A GIS-Based Procedure for Estimating the Energy Demand Profiles of Buildings towards Urban Energy Policies

Abstract

Assessing the existing building stock’s hourly energy demand and predicting its variation due to energy efficiency measures are fundamental for planning strategies towards renewable-based Smart Energy Systems. However, the need for accurate methods for this purpose in the literature arises. The present article describes a GIS-based procedure developed for estimating the energy demand profiles of urban buildings based on the definition of the volumetric consistency of a building stock, characterized by different ages of construction and the most widespread uses, as well as dynamic simulations of a set of Building Energy Models adopting different energy-related features. The simulation models are based on a simple Building Energy Concept where selected thermal zones, representative of different boundary conditions options, are accounted. By associating the simulated hourly energy density profiles to the geo-referenced building stock and to the surveyed thermal system types, the whole hourly energy profile is estimated for the considered area. The method was tested on the building stock of Milan (Italy) and validated with the data available from the annual energy balance of the city. This procedure could support energy planners in defining urban energy demand profiles for energy policy scenarios.

How Do People View Various Kinds of Smart City Services? Focus on the Acquisition of Personal Information

“…In recent years, urban planning using artificial intelligence (AI) and big data has been spreading worldwide to solve diverse kinds of social issues [1,2], and attention to smart cities is rapidly growing around the world. In Europe, the United States, and China, the implementation of smart cities is progressing [3][4][5][6][7][8][9], but in Japan, the development has just begun. In Japan, Society 5.0-an initiative to create a human-centered society that balances economic development with the resolution of social issues through a system that highly integrates virtual interface and real spaces-is being promoted [10].…”

The Process of Digitalization of the Urban Environment for the Development of Sustainable and Circular Cities: A Case Study of Bologna, Italy

“…By studying and reading, with a critical eye, several contributions [22][23][24]31,[51][52][53], a methodology based on the large-scale LCA method and the bottom-up approach that can be implemented with GIS software was explored to assess different intervention scenarios (retrofit and demolition with reconstruction) on the building stock. Results can be used to produce predictive simulations and verify the achievement of emission reduction targets [24,26].…”

“…Numerous studies have recently investigated the GIS-based methodologies, aiming to characterize the existing building stock to measure its impact in terms of energy and GHG emissions in the life cycle. As such, through the elaboration of georeferenced databases and the creation of conceptual energy building models, it is, thus, possible to estimate the energy demand profiles, e.g., in Milan (Italy), and to then map these results on the territory in an effort to support energy planning [22,23]. Additionally, a methodology to integrate large-scale LCA was conducted on Esch-Sur-Alzette (Luxemburg) existing building stock in GIS software: it allowed for the production of thematic mapping and directly linked the information about the impact (GHG emissions) on the territory [24].…”

BIMobility Simulator as a BIM-based solution for integration of e-mobility in design process.

“…The residential buildings were defined according to the most common residential building typology: single-family houses and apartment blocks [9]. The hourly electric load profiles related to the considered building typologies were defined according to [10,11,12]. According to the building typologies, the users' type has been identified: full-time workers, part-time workers and pensioners.…”